


Before The Dawn

by yujaeyong



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Happy Ending, Immorality Themes, M/M, Major Character Death - Temporary, Mythical Creatures - Naga, Please Read - MCD IS TEMP, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:28:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24217408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yujaeyong/pseuds/yujaeyong
Summary: No one saw the shadow through the trees. No one ever saw the shadows. It was a part of living in a town almost always covered in mist and fog and rain. No one thought twice about anything lurking in the woods or near the lake. No one noticed young men disappearing like clockwork. Maybe someone should have paid better attention. If they had, maybe Yangyang would still be around.
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Liu Yang Yang
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28
Collections: Weishen Fest: ANYTHING BUT HUMAN





	Before The Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> Dearest prompter, I hope this lives up to your expectations. This is my first time joining a fest and it was definitely more stressful than I anticipated.  
> I went ahead and added the warning for MCD even though it is temporary. I hope you and other readers give it a chance. 
> 
> THANK YOU so much to the lovely beta that ended up helping me towards the end. This would not have gotten done without her.
> 
> [Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ArP3wrRfjCPTFEVhoULKt?si=LlIqT2QxSl6qbpMDzT8ZeQ)  
> [Pinterest Board](https://www.pinterest.com/mrstiffanyjess/before-the-dawn/?invite_code=5806bf3fb8b74248b5e33755e66cac05&sender=246290810780257757)

_“Amongst the monsters, I am well hidden; who looks for a leaf in a forest?”- Angela Carter_

_“Light is easy to love. Show me your darkness” - R. Queen_

~~~~~~~~~~

For Yangyang, it was another Tuesday in July. It was one of those days where he liked to grab a coffee from Lucas’s cafe on his way to work. Yangyang had recently been hired full time at The Forks Mirror as a columnist. Ever since he had joined the newspaper in high school, he had always wanted to write for the Mirror. He loved reading and writing and considered himself to be a budding investigator.

The weather was somewhat gloomier than the day before, with less sunlight coming through the clouds. However, it honestly wasn’t the dreary Washington weather that annoyed him as much as it was living in Forks.

Fucking Forks, Washington. Of all the places he could have ended up, he had to live in the same place as those stupid fucking books. He loved reading but those books were something else. Living here, Yangyang had tried to give them a chance, but he couldn’t make it past page three without wanting to scratch his eyes out. Thankfully, over the last several years, tourism had died down so it wasn’t hard to deal with anymore.

As he rounded the corner from the cafe, Yangyang heard the wind blowing through the trees across the street. Hesitantly, he glanced over and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. A wave of fear and anxiety washed over him, a feeling he hadn’t had since he was a child, lost in the woods. Yangyang had no idea where the unsettling feeling came from but made his pace quicken towards the front doors of his office building. Although he was 23, Yangyang still had the occasional moment when things would give him the heebeegeebees, as his grandmother called them.

~~~~~~~~~~

_When Yangyang was five years old, his grandmother gave him a compass for his birthday. He immediately ran off into the woods behind her house, eager to see where the compass would lead. He always thought a compass was supposed to lead to a mysterious, magical place tucked away, well hidden somewhere._  
_Unfortunately for little Yangyang, his compass led him deeper into the forest until it was impossible for him to find his way home. He found a hollowed tree and crawled inside, pulling his jacket around himself tighter. He prayed his grandmother would find him sooner rather than later._

_Yangyang was surprised to discover the forest wasn’t as scary as he thought it would be. Owls hooted in the branches above him as squirrels scurried along the forest floor, chirping as they chased each other. Other than that, he thought he would be able to sleep through the night and Lord willing, not freeze to death._

_The grass and dirt were surprisingly soft and the sound of a stream nearby calmed him down, but when he began to drift off, his eyes heavy, Yangyang heard it. The sound of something heavy being dragged across the forest floor. It lasted only a few seconds at a time before the sound would pause, a brief moment longer before continuing. However, it didn’t scare him as much as the raspy, almost hissing, that followed._

_He curled in on himself, cowering down inside the tree, and prayed that whatever was out there would not find him. He could barely see around the edge of the bark when the thing slithered by. Yangyang choked back a scream, hands flying up to cover his mouth. Despite the darkness, he could still make out what had to be the largest snake he had ever seen. It had smooth onyx scales with beautiful gold markings that ran almost the entire length of its body which had to be three meters. It slowed as it passed Yangyang’s shelter and he froze, afraid he would be discovered but the creature kept going. As quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared into the night._

_The next morning, Yangyang awoke to his grandmother yelling out his name. As he sat up in the safety of his tree, he realized he was covered in a green blanket. He had no idea where it came from, but he knew for certain he did not have it with him the night before. He didn’t dwell on it too much, all he wanted was to get to the safety of his home and prayed he never had to go into the forest again._

~~~~~~~~~~

Yangyang was thankful for the rare opportunity to leave work early, although technically, he was still on the clock. His goal for the day was to finish his research and interview some locals for his column.

He had been researching another piece when he came across some staggering statistics regarding the young men in Forks. If his information was correct, anywhere between one and four young men disappeared every month and the trend dated as far back as the records go. He was shocked no one had noticed yet so he took it upon himself to start investigating.

A few hours later, once he had compiled all his findings, he was shocked. There were countless mentions of this thing in the old papers but as the papers became fewer, and things started to become digital, the mentions started to become less frequent. The descriptions of this creature were vague at best, most mentioning an almost urban legend of a giant creature feeding on the flesh of young men.

Yangyang didn’t really believe in otherworldly beings, although a part of him wanted to. As a child growing up, he loved to read about aliens, demons, dragons, unicorns - every mythical creature in fairy tales. But he could never bring himself to have faith in something neither he nor anyone else had ever really seen.

All Yangyang could logically reason at the moment was that this was most likely the work of a serial killer and once he found this guy, the media was going to have a field day. Yangyang let out a frustrated sigh and began to work out a mental plan of how he wanted to do this.

~~~~~~~~~~

The first time Yangyang entered the forest in search of the cabin, he walked around in circles for three hours and didn’t see anything other than trees and squirrels.

The second time, he found a path but once he got to the end, it was a small clearing with some pretty pink flowers. He felt somewhat more accomplished but flowers didn’t help his story.

The third time he took a small backpack with water and snacks. He was determined to stay out until he found something. He left his apartment a little earlier than the previous times to guarantee he had a solid eight hours of daylight for his search.

Yangyang decided to return to the path he found before. He thought maybe there was a path on the other side of the clearing he missed before. To his surprise, he found the path easily and once more followed it to the end, expecting to find the same clearing with pink flowers.

Instead, Yangyang found a modest but modern looking cabin next to a beautiful lake. He looked around, confused. He was certain this was the same path he had taken last time.

Reluctantly, Yangyang approached the cabin and walked up the steps. He hesitated to knock on the door, unsure of what he would say to the person inside. He wasn’t even entirely sure how he had gotten here.

But before he could knock, he felt pressure on the back of his neck like a knife. “And what might a pretty thing like you be doing on my doorstep?” Yangyang froze at the voice behind him, not sure what to do. For a brief moment, Yangyang wondered if this would be how he died, on the doorstep of a strange cabin deep in the forest. “I’ve waited so long for this day, you have no idea.”

As Yangyang glanced up, he saw a flash of gold in the reflection of the door before everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~

Yangyang woke up to a splitting headache and realized he was tied to a chair. Looking around the room, he saw a beautiful man sitting across from him, watching intently. The man looked familiar, but Yangyang couldn’t remember where he had seen him before.

“What happened? Why am I tied up and why is my head killing me?”

The man continued to observe him for a long minute before he replied. “You are tied up because I don’t want you to leave. The headache is from earlier when your head hit my porch.”

Yangyang thought back to earlier and remembered standing on the porch, the pressure on his neck, and the flash of gold before it went black. None of which explained why he was tied to the chair. “Why did you tie me to the chair though? I don’t even know who you are, how could I have done something to upset you?”

“I told you, I don’t want you to leave.” The man answered like it was the most normal thing in the world to keep someone tied to a chair.

Yangyang groaned and rolled his eyes. “Okay fine, I promise not to leave if you untie me, give me some medicine, and explain why exactly you want me here, deal?”

Again, the man’s eyes peered unblinkingly at Yangyang for what felt like forever. Finally, he stood up and walked behind Yangyang, untying him. “Sit at the table and I will bring you some water and medicine.”

Yangyang did as he was told, sitting and studying the man. At first, Yangyang had thought his captor was older, but on a closer look, he realized the man must be no more than a few years older than himself. He noticed the mesmerizing manner in which he moved about the cabin. He had a fluid grace that made Yangyang think he must do yoga or dance.

The man sat down across from Yangyang and handed him two pills and a glass of water. “This is plain ibuprofen. It should kick it pretty quick.”

Yangyang took the pills and swallowed them quickly. “Thank you...um?”

“You can call me Winwin.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing Yangyang noticed about Winwin were his eyes - gold circling the iris, and the pupils were almost reptilian in a way. Along the length of Winwin’s forearm was a black covering, similar to a tattoo but as Yangyang looked closer, it almost looked like it was moving, slowly swirling around his elbow. Winwin caught Yangyang’s roaming gaze and took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. Slowly, the black started to creep down towards his hands and disappeared. When he opened his eyes again, they were no longer reptilian gold, instead, a warm amber brown.

“I do apologize that I had to tie you up, but I had to be sure you wouldn’t leave. I have been watching you for so long now, I just couldn’t chance you leafing.” Winwin looked sorry but Yanyang wasn’t quite ready to let his guard down.

“You’ve been watching me? But why?” All Yangyang needed was to find out he had some creepy stalker who wanted to lock him away in his basement.

Winwin sighed, his shoulders dropping almost in a sign of defeat. “As you’ve noticed, I am different, and I don’t mean I’m goth or have a funny taste in music. Not that kind of different. You know this place is know for those stupid movies, but a long long time ago it was known for the supernatural beings that lived here. I personally think the author knows the city's history and that’s why she wrote those books based here but, I digress.

There have been supernatural beings living in this part of the world for as long as life has been. I am one of those beings. I was born a very long time ago. I am a Naga.”

Yangyang just stared at Winwin, not sure what to say. This guy had to be crazy if he thought he would believe anything he had to say.

“The closest thing I can compare myself to that you would be familiar with is Nagini, from the Harry Potter movies. She was based on stories and legends of my kind. There are some truths to her character. We are an immortal race that feeds on humans. I myself chose young men as my form of sustenance. I know you picked up on all the disappearances.” He cokced his head and smiled. “You are very smart Yangyang.”

“So, you are an immortal snake guy who eats young guys like me….so you’re going to kill me then?” Yangyang couldn’t believe he had gotten himself into a situation like this. A crazy person has taken him hostage and he’s going to die. He was on the verge of tears when Winwin continued to talk.

“I don’t want to hurt you. Far from it. I have been watching you for a very long time. I remember seeing you the first time in the forest when you got lost. Do you remember? I could smell the fear on you so I stayed away. I wouldn't have hurt you but you wouldn’t have understood that.”

Yangyang thought back to that memory, remembering the smell of the wet grass and the sound of that heavy black snake as it passed him. The fear he felt. “You mean, you expect me to believe that one, what I saw was real, and two, that you were that snake?” He laughed because it was ridiculous but he stopped once he realized Winwin wasn’t laughing. He looked completely serious.

“I don’t expect you to just take my word for it. Obviously I will prove it to you, but first, I hope you will hear me out.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them they were that inky black with gold around the irises that Yangyang remembered so well.

“You see, in order to survive, every so often I have to feed off of humans. Not enough for the people to notice really, but enough that it has become a legend of sorts. It is a cycle for me, every few years I lure a young man into the woods and he never returns. But from the moment I saw you as a child, I knew you were different.” He blinked and his eyes were back to their original brown.

“I have been watching you, keeping an eye on you. I knew we were connected but I honestly wasn’t sure how until the last few years. I started doing some research and realized that you just might be the one. There have always been myths regarding our kind that if you found a special someone, one specific person, you could be with them forever and never need to kill again. Just feed a little every few days or weeks. Yangyang, I believe that you are my person. I believe that you could be by my side forever, if you will let me show you how.”

~~~~~~~~~~

It’s a snake, he thinks as he felt the creature begin to slowly spiral up his body. It’s a snake. His heart is beating too fast, pumping through his veins a mixture of horror and lust. He feels the snake reach his neck and it’s forked tongue leaves a wet trail behind his ear causing him to moan. He has waited for months for this to happen; too long. He didn’t realize what he was waiting for exactly until he met Winwin. Now that he is here at the moment, he is more afraid than he would like to admit.

He heard an almost growling sound right before a hiss, and then only a blinding searing pain coursing through his whole body. He felt like he was on fire, burning from the inside out, and knew he must be dying. The last thing he saw before he blacked out were two bright gold eyes.

When Yangyang finally awoke, he felt so cold. He now understood what people meant when they said you could feel it in your bones. He tried to open his eyes but quickly realized he couldn't not move. At all. He moaned and barely a sound came out.

He felt something press against his side, almost unbearably hot. The longer it was there, the further across his body the heat spread. As the warmth moved through his muscles and veins, Yangyang found himself growing more alert and awake.

It felt like hours before Yangyang opened his eyes and groaned. Every inch of his body ached, as if he had been slammed into the front of an 18-wheeler. He hurt in places he didn't think he could hurt, from the burning inside of his nose to the searing blinding pain behind his eyes. His head spun, uncertain of what had happened.

“Careful, take it slow. You are going to be somewhat disoriented for a while.”

He turned and saw Winwin sitting next to him with a cup in his hands. That’s when he looked around and took in his surroundings. He was in Winwin’s house, in his bed to be exact. And he was naked. He opened his mouth and tried to talk but nothing came out.

“Here, drink some of this, it will help.” Winwin pressed the cup to his lips, urging him to swallow. Yangyang could only take a few sips but it already began to help him feel much better.

“Wh-what…” He tried again but he couldn’t manage to get anything out.

“Do you want me to tell you what happened?” A mixture of emotions swam through Winwin’s eyes, but Yangyang nodded. He wanted to understand what was going on.

Winwin let out a soft sigh, moving to sit next to Yangyang on the bed. A familiar warmth radiated through the sheets, and Yangyang realized the heat from earlier had come from Winwin being so close. He watched, waiting patiently for Winwin to start talking.

"I tried to explain when you asked me to bite you, but I don't think you fully comprehended what the changing process would entail. My venom is deadly, whether I want it to be or not. But I can also make you immortal as well. When I bit you, you died, and the venom burns through your body, shutting down every part of your body until your heart stops," Winwin explained, pausing to help Yangyang take another sip from the cup.

"Once I could no longer feel your heartbeat, I bit you a second time, releasing a different venom that makes you cold, the one that can grant you immortality. It was risky, Yangyang, a huge chance we took. I don't regret it but I've never been more scared in my life. I...I can't lose you. The after effects won't wear off for a few more hours, but I will lay with you to keep you warm and comfortable until you're able to move."

Yangyang nodded as best he could and closed his eyes, leaning closer to Winwin as he drifted off. Winwin was right, they had talked about all this, but talking about it and experiencing it are two totally different things.

~~~~~~~~~~

Yangyang felt hot like the heater was on as Winwin licked from his collarbone to his ear, softly nibbling as he moved up. “Your neck is so beautiful. I can only imagine how delicious you will be, but don't worry baby, I won’t scar it up. I will only take a little.”

Yangyang wouldn’t have labeled himself as being kinky, but he realized he might have to rethink that. The way Winwin would nip at his collar or suck bruises into his jaw, it made him feel alive and wanted. Something he had never felt before.

“Please Winwin.” He blushed, looking anywhere but Winwin’s face. “Harder this time. I think... I actually like the pain.” He couldn’t believe he admitted that out loud.

Winwin pushed him down and started to lick and nibble at his collarbone. “Anything you want, baby.”

When he bit down, Yangyang swore he saw stars. The mixture of pain and pleasure was so overwhelming. He had been hard for so long now, leaking so much it looked like he pissed himself. He moaned as he felt Winwins fangs graze his collarbone. “Winwin...fuck, you’re gonna...I’m gonna cum if you keep…”

Winwin hummed and pulled back, licking the blood off. “I would love to see you cum baby, just from me feeding. It would be the best fucking orgasm of you r life.” Before Yangyang could respond he bit back down in the same spot but started to suck harder.

The pain almost caused Yangyang to pass out but the pleasure that followed made it worth it. It was similar to when Winwin had turned him, a searing hot sensation that made him feel like he was going to combust and burn up from the inside out. This time though, it was the most intense pleasure he had ever felt. “Fuck Win...I’m gonna..” He didn’t finish his sentence before he was cumming, shaking and spilling all over his stomach and Winwins side. It was the longest most intense orgasm of his life and he wasn’t sure he would survive many more of them.

Winwin kissed his cheek and pulled him into his side, “Take some deep breaths. That had to be hard on you.”

“It was. Shit man, that was crazy. It was intens and painful but felt so fucking good. We will have to try that again sometime. Just not now. Too Tired.” He pulled Winwin as close as he could and buried his face in his chest.

Winwin kissed his temple and smiled, “Next time then. Sleep babe.”

**Author's Note:**

> I would be open to adding chapters and expanding on their pasts/future. Let me know if that is something you would like, or if it should just stay a stand alone <3


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